---
title: Ascertain the manner in which whales contribute to the growth of phy… — The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colos… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the manner in which whales contribute to the growth of phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean. Exam question 4 of lesson 171 «The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colossal squid and life under the ice» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the 
---

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# Exam question 4 · The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colossal squid and life u…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the manner in which whales contribute to the growth of phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 3 · wrong ✗ · **Who acts:** you, whales, phytoplankton · **What happens:** ascertain, contribute, grow · **To what, where:** manner, growth

<!-- .vabout -->
This is exam question 4 of lesson 171 «The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colossal squid and life under the ice» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice/#e4).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice:e4:1
# text = Ascertain the manner in which whales contribute to the growth of phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	manner	manner	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
4	in	in	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	obl	_	_
6	whales	whale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nsubj	_	_
7	contribute	contribute	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	3	acl:relcl	_	_
8	to	to	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	growth	growth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
11	of	of	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
12	phytoplankton	phytoplankton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod	_	_
13	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
15	Southern	Southern	PROPN	NNP	_	16	flat	_	_
16	Ocean	Ocean	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	12	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the manner |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent manner=Topic |
| 2 | **contribute** | present | whales |  | the growth of phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean | the manner |  |  | vn contribute-13.2-1-1 «NP V PP.recipient»: agent=Agent to growth=Recipient |
| 3 | **grow** |  | phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean |  |  |  |  |  | nom growth «process intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their songs stimulate the growth of plants upon the sea floor

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice:e4:o1:1
# text = Their songs stimulate the growth of plants upon the sea floor
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	songs	song	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	stimulate	stimulate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	growth	growth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	plants	plant	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nmod	_	_
8	upon	upon	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	compound	_	_
11	floor	floor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stimulate** | present | Their songs | the growth of plants |  |  |  | upon the sea floor | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus growth=Experiencer |
| 2 | **sing** |  | Their *= they* |  |  |  |  |  | nom song «communication intransitive»: poss=agent |
| 3 | **grow** |  | plants |  |  |  |  |  | nom growth «process intransitive»: of=agent |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their bodies shade the water from excessive light

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice:e4:o2:1
# text = Their bodies shade the water from excessive light
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	bodies	body	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	nsubj	_	_
3	shade	shade	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	excessive	excessive	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **shade** | present | Their bodies | the water |  |  |  | from excessive light | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP PP.theme»: agent=Agent water=Beneficiary from light=Theme |

### Option 3 · ✓ the right answer {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their excrement supplies iron which the phytoplankton require

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice:e4:o3:1
# text = Their excrement supplies iron which the phytoplankton require
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	4	nmod:poss	_	_
2	excrement	excrement	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	supplies	supplies	NOUN	NNS	Number=Ptan	4	compound	_	_
4	iron	iron	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nsubj	_	_
5	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	phytoplankton	phytoplankton	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	conj	_	_
8	require	require	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **phytoplankton** |  | Their supplies iron and the phytoplankton |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **require** | present | Their supplies iron and the phytoplankton |  |  |  |  |  | vn require-103-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Theme |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Their breath warms the surface waters

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice:e4:o4:1
# text = Their breath warms the surface waters
1	Their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	2	nmod:poss	_	_
2	breath	breath	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	warms	warm	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	surface	surface	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	waters	water	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **warm** | present | Their breath | the surface waters |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent water=Patient |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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- ← previous: [The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colos…, exam 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice/e3/)
- next →: [Coral reef builders: polyps, bleaching…, test 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/172-coral-reef-builders-polyps-bleaching-sand-from-parrotfish-and-giant-clams/t1/)
- ↑ back to [The Southern Ocean: blue whales, colossal squid and life under the ice](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/171-the-southern-ocean-blue-whales-colossal-squid-and-life-under-the-ice/)